Page 73 of Heart of Mischief

After Elias dropped Charlie off, she stumbled through the front door, bleary-eyed and ready to collapse into bed. Her footsteps started to angle toward the staircase when her mom’s voice called out from the kitchen.

“Hi, honey!” she said. “We’re in here having dinner.”

Dammit, Charlie mouthed. She’d texted her mom just before school should have ended, saying that she needed to stay late to work on a Spanish project. Her mom hadn’t questioned the excuse, but she might start to if Charlie face-planted from exhaustion in front of her.

Henry stirred, blinking up at her as if to say,Really?He sent a pale, sleepy lavender into her head, along with two words:

MURDER SHOW?

Charlie laughed softly. “Yes, you can go watchThe Witcher. Here.” She set the vätte on the floor, then handed over her phone. He clutched it between his little arms and chirped a thank-you. She winked and said, “I’ll see you there.”

As Henry skittered up the stairs, Charlie straightened. She blinked, trying to clear the blurry exhaustion from her eyes as she headed for the kitchen.

She found Mason and her mom seated at the breakfast nook, a box of pizza between them. As usual, Mason wasn’t looking at her, but her mom gave a sheepish smile.

“Didn’t feel like cooking tonight. But it’s been so long since I gotthis oneto myself.” She reached out and tweaked Mason’s nose with two fingers, which he batted away. “I figured pizza might finally coax him into spending some time with me.” She scooted over on the bench and gestured to the open spot beside herself. “Join us.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Charlie said quickly. “I’m pretty tired from working on the project—”

“Please?” her mom asked, throwing in sad eyes and pouty lipsfor good measure. “I feel like we haven’t gotten to spend any time together in the last month. I should have grounded you both for getting high at homecoming, like I’d said I was going to. At least then you’d be around more often.”

Charlie’s heart gave an unexpected lurch. Her mom was so playful and extroverted that Charlie often forgot she spent most of the day alone. She worked in IT, out of a home office on the second floor. And while she said she loved her job—it let her sneak out for errands and coffee or Pilates with friends—it had to be lonely, too.

Double dammit, Charlie thought. She wondered if Mason had received that same speech. From the look on his face, she bet he had.

Sighing, she walked over and plopped down at the table.

Her mom clapped, using her arms to bounce herself up and down on the bench’s fluffy cushion. “Would you look at this! Both of my children at once. It’s a Christmas miracle.”

“It’s October, Mom,” Mason said.

Their mom flapped a hand. “It’s always Christmas in Silver Shores.”

Mason laughed. “That’s not a thing people say.”

“Well, it’s a thing thatIsay.” She reached into the box and pulled out a slice of pizza, plopping it onto a paper plate and setting it in front of Charlie. “Now. Polite conversation time. Charlie, how are things now that your boyfriend is back in town?”

Charlie choked on the bite of pizza she’d just taken, inhaling some rogue cheese and dissolving into a coughing fit. Across the table, she saw Mason turn his head to hide a smirk.

“Goodness!” Their mom pounded Charlie’s back. “Are you okay, honey?”

Charlie nodded, pointing at her throat. Her mom reached over and grabbed the glass of water in front of Mason. Charlie took it, downing several gulps before putting the glass back down and exhaling in relief.

“Better?” their mom asked.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Charlie coughed out.

“He’s not? But yesterday morning—”

“Yesterday morning was… a surprise.”

Charlie paused, breath unsteady as she decided what she should say next. She wanted to tell her mom that they had broken up, that she shouldn’t expect to see him around. But she and Elias were working together now, and if in the disturbingly likely chance he paid them an unexpected visit, she needed an excuse for why he was there.

“We broke up before he went to music school,” she said. The story rolled off her tongue easily, bringing with it the unsettling rush of excitement that she always felt when telling a lie—a part of herself that she had always hated but now understood might be inevitable. Genetic. “He didn’t want to, but I didn’t like the idea of long distance. After returning, I guess he’s… trying to win me back.”

Mason snorted.

Their mom ignored him, keeping her focus on Charlie. “Aww.” She clutched her heart. “How romantic. He’s fighting for you. As he should.”